Silent Night, Deadly Night [DVD] [1984]

A very enjoyable Christmas themed slasher from 1984 where a psychologically disturbed Santa attired killer stalks a small town punishing the 'naughty' and generally dispatching anyone else who gets in his way.
The film begins in 1971 and charts the disturbing events which ultimately explain the rationale behind the killer Claus. After a creepy encounter with his grandfather in a psychiatric asylum and after witnessing the barbaric massacre of his parents on the way home perpetrated by a Father Xmas donned criminal, the traumatised young boy is placed in a Catholic orphanage presided over by a tyrannical nun. The nun reinforces his fear/hatred of wrongdoers through the physical and mental abuse he experiences combined with the reinforcing of Santa as arbiter of punishing the 'wicked' Cue a number of slayings years later one Christmas Eve beginning in the toy shop where he works after being coerced into masquerading as the store Santa. Allied with his prior conditioning and trauma this sets him over the edge.
It is a very good 80's slasher in the vein of 'Friday 13th' 'Happy Birthday to me' etc. It is done on a budget so obviously the special effects reflect this. There is a 30 min approx audio interview with the director and an interesting booklet providing hysterical quotes from advocates of banning this film upon its cinematic release in the States as well as a written question and answer interview with the director and a good bio of Linnea Quigley, a soft porn 'scream queen' who appeared in this as well as other similar films.
Only whilst watching this did I realise I'd seen it before but for some reason had forgotten it or maybe didn't like it at the time. Perhaps some lovers of the more modern type horrors may not appreciate the quite basic make-up and effects on show and slightly dated feel to it but I would certainly recommend this as a great alternative to some of the saccharine filled Xmas offerings available. As well as its important place historically within the horror annals, it is a little cracker on its own terms.
A special note of appreciation to the regular contributors of the Amazon horror forum who raised this one and on which basis I purchased it. I would certainly recommend any horror fans to check out these pages as they are as good a source as any I've ever seen for quality recommendations.

Kudos to Arrow for getting this out on DVD in the UK Fully uncut.
The usual Arrow goodies apply with decent extras,a poster,informative booklet,and the now famous reversible artwork.
Anyone who likes Madmen on the loose movies needs to get this.

Absolutely demented!

Arrow Video are great but as you may not know Part 2 is only available on a double feature DVD featuring both movies (apart from a few rare instances), which makes sense because Part 2 can't really be considered a true movie due to the overused archive footage but makes for a great special feature, however the Arrow edition does not include this. So if you want to see the sequels you'll find yourself having 2 copies of the 1st movie, also the Arrow editions special features are all included on the double feature edition so you're not missing anything getting the Anchor bay version. I don't think Arrow are planning to release Part 2 on their label so for now, I recommend you get the superior Anchor bay edition with both movies on it.